Tennis star Serena Williams recently opened up in a Ted talk with Gayle King about racist comments she received about at the time her unborn child. Former Romanian World number one Ilie Năstase made comments in the media about the skin colour of Williams’ baby.
Williams is a black woman and her partner and father of the child is a white man, Reddit co-founder, Alexis Ohanian. Williams also called Năstase out for making sexist comments about other players on the tour.
In a statement released by Williams she said, “It disappoints me to know we live in a society where people like Ilie Năstase can make such racist comments towards myself and an unborn child, and sexist comments against my peers.”
During the Ted talk Williams really concentrated on the comments about her peers saying, “It’s really important to hold women up. I want to be a good leader and a good example for them.”
Williams made it clear how she felt about her and her fellow female players to stand up for each other. Serena described how younger players would come into the locker room and want to take photos with her, but she wanted to make sure she was there for them and standing up for them.
Serna also talked about coming back to tennis after having her baby. Saying she’s “always trying to defy the odds” and she’s “really inspired by my sister Venus.” Serena spoke about how her older sister Venus is still playing at a high level and that Men’s great Roger Federer is still winning stuff at the age of 39.
She has now won her first singles title since her comeback from having her daughter at the 2020 ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand.
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